Gratitude in the valley of Grief

Photo by Spencer Watson on Unsplash

IMPOSSIBLE concepts are not foreign in the Kingdom of God, but of course impossibilities in a worldly context are possibilities where God reigns.

Gratitude in the time of grief, for instance, is possible as a concept in the Kingdom of God, but the world generally thinks that’s absurd. Such a concept is both bizarre and yet, we know, really the only way forward. So, what seems impossible is also the only thing that makes new life possible.

How do we do this mysterious practice of gratitude amid grief?

By faith. Simply, we express gratitude when we would rather complain. We look for reasons to be thankful. We practice the thing that seems impossible, and in practicing it, we prove to ourselves it is possible.

Sure, there are times in an entire season of grief where we simply cannot be grateful. That’s to be expected. The point is we keep it within our mind’s eye sight, always endeavouring to return to it. We never hold it so far away that it feels ‘impossible’.

The nuts and bolts of gratitude are in the itty biddy things of life. If anything, grief transforms our perspective overnight. Grief makes it possible that we would begin to see the smaller things that we too regularly overlooked.

When we’re thankful for what we would normally take for granted, we’re helped in our grief. Many things are impossible in grief, and gratitude appears to be one of them. But as soon as we engage ourselves in it, God teaches us it’s not only possible, but He teaches us that gratitude helps give our lives perspective, and now when we need it most.

Perhaps we can think of grief as the ideal time to engage intentionally in gratitude. Our world is turned upside down. No typical thinking system will make sense. But gratitude will. By faith. Believe it can help, and keep believing, and it will help. Sooner or later we’re convinced.

Gratitude helps us cut a way through a mountain that feels impossible to climb.

We are not grateful for the loss we have suffered, but we may choose gratitude to make coping easier.